Georgia Economy Nick Searcy, Ryan Bernal, Chris Maszerowski.
GEORGIA GENERAL ASSEMBLY Ryan D. Williamson 24 February 2015.
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Transcript of GEORGIA GENERAL ASSEMBLY Ryan D. Williamson 24 February 2015.
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GEORGIA GENERAL ASSEMBLYRyan D. Williamson
24 February 2015
![Page 2: GEORGIA GENERAL ASSEMBLY Ryan D. Williamson 24 February 2015.](https://reader035.fdocuments.in/reader035/viewer/2022062421/56649ddc5503460f94ad46c2/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
Agenda
• Attendance• Lecture on the Georgia General Assembly• Reading for next time
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Questions?
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Objective
• Compare and contrast the U.S. Congress and the Georgia General Assembly
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Professionalization
• The General Assembly is characterized by• Part-time nature of legislative service• Not regularly in the capitol• Low pay with few benefits• Very deferential to the governor
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Tenure
• Members of both the state House and Senate serve 2 year terms
• Unlike some other states, Georgia does not place term limits on its legislators.
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Personnel
• Georgia has one of the largest state legislatures---180 Representatives and 56 Senators
• The General Assembly was once almost exclusively composed of white, male Democrats
• By 2011, blacks made up 24% of House 23% of the Senate.
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Personnel
• Women held 26 percent of the seats in the lower chamber in 2011.
• Two Latinos also served at this time.• Republicans have since gained control of both chambers as well.
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Campaigning
• Georgia law limits contributions to $2000 per candidate, per race. An additional $1000 can be given should a runoff take place.
• Incumbents get reelected at extraordinarily high rates.
• This entices more contributions from political action committees.
• Challengers therefore generally must rely on their own fortunes to finance campaigns.
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Structure in the House
• The Georgia House also has a Speaker who• Assigns legislation to committees• Decides which bills get called up off the Rules Calendar
for floor debate• Recognizing those wishing to speak
• Below the Speaker is a Speaker pro tempore• Third in command is the Majority Leader• Fourth in line is the Majority Whip
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Structure in the House
• The minority party also has a Minority Leader who would likely become the Speaker should partisan control change hands.
• Below the Minority Leader is the Minority Whip and a number of assistant whips.
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Structure in the Senate
• The lieutenant governor presides over the Senate.
• This position once came with much power but that is no longer the case.
• The highest ranking Senator is the president pro tempore.
• He or she represents the majority and is tasked with agenda setting and making sure the chamber operates efficiently.
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Structure in the Senate
• Unlike the U.S. Congress and that of many other states, Georgia also has administrative floor leaders.
• The governor names his own floor leaders, and their primary function escorting the executive’s agenda through enactment.
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Legislative Process
• The process of turning bills into laws is equally complicated and arduous at the state level.
• Figure 5.3 provides an excellent illustration of this process.
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Legislative Process
1. Prefiling2. Introduction3. Designation4. Assignation5. Committee Action6. Committee Report7. Placement8. Call for Floor Action9. Debate10. Voting for Final Passage11. Repeat Process in Other Chamber12. Sent to Governor
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Other Forms of Legislating
• The U.S. has ratified only on version of the constitution and amended it a mere 27 times.
• In contrast, Georgia has ratified 10 constitutions and has amended each version numerous times.
• The most recent constitution was put into place in 1983 and was accompanied with 4 amendments to it.
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Other Forms of Legislating
• Amendments to the U.S. Constitution have been concerned with expanding or protecting rights.
• Many amendments to the Georgia Constitution are significantly less consequential.
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For example…
• Limits to the ability of the city of Waycross to levy city taxes on property owned by person aged 65+
• Allow credit for work at a state prison to count against medical school loan debt
• Allow cities and counties to clear slums
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Other Forms of Legislating
• Amending the Georgia Constitution requires a two-thirds majority in both chambers of the General Assembly.
• It then must be approved by a majority of voters in the next general election.
• These are not always made obvious or clear however.
• One of the primary reasons for doing this is to make change more difficult.
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Questions?
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For next time…
• Read Ch. 6 of Kollman• Quiz on Thursday• See me if you haven’t picked up your test yet